We will deliver 10.3 million servings of produce through our Good Food for All program in cities throughout the Midwest and beyond, as we learn about which vegetables and fruits are most appealing and what folks can pay for them.So at the end of our deliberation, PHA has put vegetables and fruits on center stage in our annual goals for this new fiscal year: Estimates show that increasing daily consumption of vegetables and fruits by one additional portion (½ cup) per day can account for increased longevity. Even modest changes in diet quality can result in significant savings in Medicare and Medicaid costs. This would not only be good for the community but good for the wallet. COVID-19 has shown us that food and its connection to health are critical. There’s never been a better time to change this. Otherwise, vegetables and fruits will remain an unleveraged tool for health. If we want Americans to eat more vegetables and fruits, we will need to change the incentives and infrastructure for growing, harvesting, transporting, storing, and selling those crops. We must rethink the food system at every level. Now that the system is built for ultra-processed, refined carbohydrates with long shelf lives, there is precious little infrastructure to support vegetables and fruits. Since the early 1950s, our food system has prioritized convenience over health. Chief among them is a lack of infrastructure and a lack of political will. And yet wide swaths of the country lack sufficient access to them. We’ve known for decades that vegetables and fruits are the backbone of strong health. Both in business and in non-profit work, there can be a strong temptation to reach for the new, the shiny, and even the complicated - particularly when something seemingly simple has proven so challenging - like increasing the consumption of produce. I confess to occasionally wishing the truth were more complex. American adults consume, on average, 46.4 pounds of potatoes per year, the highest consumption rate of any vegetable. French fries remain the number one vegetable consumed by children as young as 12-14 months. Americans consume more than the recommended levels of meat, eggs, nuts, and grains. Men, young adults, and low-income individuals show the lowest rates of fruit and vegetable consumption overall. We are calling out vegetables and fruits because only one in ten American adults meets the federal recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption. So in FY22, which began this month, PHA will work to build demand for and to increase the supply of vegetables and fruits and other good foods in communities across America. But as the afternoon wore on, the more clearly we saw that each one of those partnerships matters more in the context of a robust consumption of vegetables and fruits. PHA does a lot of other great work to transform the food landscape in pursuit of health equity, such as partnerships to get whole grains on menus, sugars out of yogurt, or to drive the sale of healthier foods. The staff and leadership of PHA gathered recently to set goals for fiscal year 2022 and, after three hours of excited debate and deliberation, landed on a basic truth at the center of our work: Vegetables and Fruits.Īt first, we were underwhelmed with our own insight. Roman, President and CEO of Partnership for a Healthier America CEO’s Corner
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